RSS (Rich Site Summary) is just one example of a format for delivering regularly changing web content to user. Many news-related sites, weblogs and other online publishers syndicate their content as an “RSS Feed” to whoever wants it. RSS and similar systems are beneficial for many people who regularly use the web. It allows one to easily stay informed by retrieving the latest content from selected sites of interest. Users save time and effort because they need not visit each web site individually. Also a measure of privacy is provided, as an RSS feed user need not join each site's email newsletter. Not surprisingly, the number and variety of sites offering RSS and other types of feeds is growing rapidly. RSS (and its various embodiments) accordingly has become a quick, easy and powerful communication tool to disseminate information.
Present technology is limited however in that the publisher or web site operator cannot “target” its feeds in a meaningful way. Rather, the feed simply goes out to anyone and everyone who subscribes to it. The need remains for improvements that would help the publishers predict how an article is going to be received by the audience. In a similar vein, it would assist the publisher to have information or recommendations on how a specific article can be fine tuned prior to publication in order to achieve greater impact. We use the term “article” broadly in this application to refer to any digital content item broadcast to subscribers via a web feed system such as RSS, including without limitation text, metadata, audio, video or other media.
Reference is now made to the drawing figures in which like reference numerals refer to like elements. In the following description, certain specific details of programming, software modules, user selections, network transactions, database queries, database structures, etc., are provided by way of illustration and not limitation for a thorough understanding of the invention. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention can be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other methods, components, materials, etc.